While many states are starting to open up, I am skeptical it’s a good idea. The number of cases continue to climb with deaths in the US over 80K in 8 weeks. We still don’t have enough tests to know truly how many are infected. More importantly, we don’t have any vaccine or credible cure in sight.
I also read just this week that many tech firms like Google already told their employees to plan to work from home until 2021. This is likely to be the trend for all white collar workers across industries. Universities are also considering cancelling in person classes until 2021.
I know many of us thought this would only last two, maybe three months tops when we first started. As the harsh reality sets in that it may be longer, how can we stay mentally tough and sane? I am dealing with it day by day, week by week. Here are five tips I am following to stay mentally tough.
Tip 1: Accept what is – Accept that this may take longer than expected. This may be the hardest to do. The more we miss the “old normal,” the harsher life feels right now. In a way, all of us are going through the five stages of grieving – grieving over the loss of our very social lives. All of us are dealing with it differently through each stage – Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, Acceptance. I think I was lucky. I jumped fairly quickly to depression and acceptance since day 1 of our quarantine. I still cry a lot , at least once a week. However, for the most part I have accepted that life will likely be like this until 2021. With that acceptance, I am able to focus on what is today’s life vs what I miss from my old life.
Tip 2: Look at life with an “at least” lens vs “what I cannot do anymore” lens – If we are always looking at our current life with a glass half empty perspective, we will always be sad and focused on what’s missing. That’s no way to live. It’s our choice on how we want to live each moment. Why not live by focusing on what is beautiful and good still in our lives. The best way to be grateful for our “new normal life” is to start with “At least I still can …” From this lens, we can feel so many more blessings in our lives now. Here are the 7 blessings I feel
Tip 3: Exercise! This can take so many forms from walking, hiking to dancing to online classes to working up a sweat via xbox 360 Kinect games or any game console that makes you move. We are tired mentally and physically everyday as we all worry subconsciously of the impact of covid19 on our families. Being tired this way actually doesn’t mean we don’t have the energy to work out. On the contrary, we NEED to work out to get more energetic. The worry creates a huge amount of negative energy trapped in our bodies. That’s what makes us tired. By sweating it out, we actually get to release that energy and promote our overall health.
I have been working out 60 days in a row and it’s been really helpful. The following is one of my favorite new finds of “Sheltering in Place.” I pay only $11 a month for Shine Dance Fitness online classes. They are anywhere from 35 to 60 min. Here is a 3 min excerpt of a killer arms exercise for a 60 min classes I look forward to doing a “Shine” class at least once a week. I also love Kendall’s positive energy and fun dance moves
Tip 4: Start small – It’s hard to make major changes if we find ourselves stuck in a rot. So set small goals each day. Start with something that is very achievable – like a 15 min exercise of anything you like or FaceTime a friend and just share what’s going on. Take it one step at a time. Inertia is the hardest to change. Instead of trying to make a drastic change, try to just slow down the negative momentum a little at a time.
Tip 5: Be gentle and loving with yourself. We often forget to be loving to ourselves. We, as overachievers especially are quick to judge ourselves and focus on what is not right. So practice accepting a bad day or a bad conversation as just that and let it go. Accept that if you were not as productive, it’s okay. Do something nice for yourself every week. I am practicing doing nothing every week for at least 30 min. It’s a way for me to love myself. Small steps! It’s the freedom to not plan, not think, not worry, and the permission to not be productive at all. 🙂
At the end of the day, you are likely already mentally stronger than most. You can use the following video to find out 🙂
Stay safe. You are strong.. hang in there!
Your comments: How are you coping these days? I look forward to your comments and questions
Your comments: Do you have an inner voice that tells you that you are not enough? Do you where it comes from and how to ignore it? I look forward to hearing from you.
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